ICPEN Handbook: Unfair Trading Practices in Digital Platforms in the Tourism Sector

This handbook is the first major output under the Working Group. The Working Group will continue under the 2020/2021 Canadian Presidency, and we hope to be able to progress further our ambitions to reduce consumer harm from digital tourism platforms. It is undoubtedly the case that the 2020 Covid-19 global pandemic has had a major impact on the tourism industry. Global travel and tourism came to a virtual standstill in the first part of the year leading to significant consumer harm. In econsumer.gov, Covid-19 travel related complaints ranked as the second highest type of report. UNCTAD estimates that the sector could lose 1.2 trillion USD as a result of the crisis.4 The world is slowly re-opening and the tourism industry is beginning to rebuild itself. It is important that consumer trust is restored. But some businesses may turn (or return) to deceptive or misleading practices to exploit consumers. Online platforms will continue to play a significant role in travel and tourism as consumers begin to travel again. Now more than ever, it is important that consumers are protected from harmful trading practices.